High fence hunting may not be what you think it is

This article was first published in my email newsletter in June of 2026. I've added it to my website, because I think the information is useful in general, not just for the month it was published. If you'd like to keep up with the latest hunting information, including my open dates and available hunts, you can subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of this page.

I’ve discovered over the years that a lot of people misunderstand the realities behind the terms ‘high fence’, ‘low fence’, and ‘open range’. On the face of it, the terms seem pretty straightforward:

High fence means fences that are eight feet tall, typically with a woven wire mesh that’s under high tension, so it resists sagging or animals pushing through it. With rare exceptions, eight feet is too high for game animals to jump. So high fence means that game animals are kept within the property.

Low fence is the kind of fencing used for cattle, and it poses no barrier to game animals. Low fence properties are also called free range or open range. The three terms are synonymous: low fence, open range, and free range all refer to land where game animals can move freely because there are no fences sufficient to prevent their movement.

My West Texas ranches are pretty much free range. The majority of Hill Country ranches — including the ones I hunt — are high fence.

Why is that? What difference does it make? And what should you really be concerned about?

Let me get one key thing out of the way right off the bat: For the Hill Country ranches I hunt, the fencing is pretty much irrelevant. That’s because these ranches are so big — 3,000 acres and more — that they’re pretty much indistinguishable from open range. You can look at that in two ways: From the hunter’s perspective and from the animals perspective.

To get the animal’s perspective you need to consider that animal’s home range — the area it covers during the year in search of food, water, and shelter. As an example, for axis — assuming reliable food and water — the home range is just a few hundred acres. Whitetail require more space — maybe 600 to 800 acres. In both cases, a 3,000 acre high-fenced ranch might just as well be free range.

From the hunter’s perspective, it’s pretty much the same thing. The way you hunt isn’t going to be much different on 3,000 acres of open range and 3,000 acres of high fence. Just a few weeks ago, I was hunting eland — huge animals — and I had located a group of them the night before the hunt. The next morning, even though I had a rough idea of where they should be, it took us from 6 AM to 9 AM to track them down. That’s pretty much an open range kind of experience.

THE REASONS FOR HIGH FENCE

So why are there high-fence ranches at all?

The key reason is population management, and there are multiple parts to that. The ranches I hunt are responsibly and ethically managed, and you can’t really do that if your population can mix with your neighbor’s population.

The first thing to consider is genetics. Animals on the ranches I hunt are native to those ranches — that is, they were born and raised on those ranches, their parents were born and raised there, and their grandparents were born and raised there. Over all those generations, the population was culled, keeping the best-quality animals. After all that investment and effort, no landowner wants to share his animals with the guy next door. Nor does he want his animals breeding with the poorly-managed populations on the other side of his property line.

Food and water is another issue. A high-quality population of game animals requires adequate nutrition. The owner of a well-managed ranch knows exactly how many mouths his ranch can feed — he’s had a biologist evaluate it — and he maintains a herd size that his ranch can sustain. That typically means that he has to trim the population each year, by using management hunts and by capturing and selling excess animals. He definitely doesn’t want the neighboring animals wandering over to take his animals’ food.

And finally, there’s economics. Some of the exotics on these high fence ranches are extraordinarily valuable. Certain species can bring in tens of thousands of dollars for trophy fees. You’d no more leave them unfenced than you’d park your car and walk away with the keys in the ignition and the driver-side door open.

WHAT YOU SHOULD REALLY CONSIDER

It must sound like I’m saying that high-fencing doesn’t matter. And that’s almost true. But if you’re going to hunt high-fence, there are some questions you should ask first.

How big is the ranch?

Here in Texas, ranches are pretty big, and a high fence ranch that is 3,000 or 5,000 or 8,000 acres might just as well be open range. It feels that way to the animals, and it will feel that way to you as a hunter.

Does the ranch use traps or pens?

There are some big ranches that divide their acreage up into small traps (pastures) or pens. That can make it easier for the landowner to manage his hunting business, but it isn’t the same experience as hunting the full acreage or general population. It’s fine if that’s what you want to do, but you should ask the question so you know upfront exactly what you’re getting.

(It’s also worth asking if you’ll have exclusive rights to the ranch during your hunt. In some places you’ll be sharing everything with other groups of hunters; on my ranches, you'll have the place to yourself.)

How will I hunt?

On some ranches you’ll be hunting from a blind, or perhaps you’ll be hunting at night with thermal optics. If those things are ok with you, that’s fine. It’s just something you should know up front. (And if you’re from out of state, let me give you this heads up: During a Texas summer, hunting from a blind is not an experience that I’d choose, personally.)

THE BOTTOM LINE

Despite all the talk you might hear, high fence hunting is not a second-rate experience. Everything depends on the number of acres you’ll hunt. On a large, well-managed ranch, high-fence really means a top-quality animal population and an experience that’s no different from open range.

Just make sure you ask the right questions first.